Thursday, November 08, 2007

The 58,000 Gallon Spill

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

-John Muir

Sigh. Yesterday, a container ship passing under the Bay Bridge, scraped a support tower of the bridge. The bridge wasn't damaged, but the ship sustained a deep gash to the lower side of the vessel, which resulted in a 58,000 gallon oil spill. Originally, it was announced that only about 200 gallons of oil had been spilled into the bay, but later in the afternoon, that number was revised. As of this morning, nine bay beaches had been closed to the public, as well as points just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County.

A number of birds have been pulled from the water off Chrissy Field, covered in oil, and small balls of tar have been washing up on shore. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that the water in the bay will be tainted for years because of this spill, which breaks my heart, because I have a deep love for that bay, and the creatures that live in it. I am going to San Francisco today, to try and get some photos of the cleanup efforts, as well as the spill itself. I want to see if for myself. I will write a follow up entry to this posting, if I get some photos that accurately represent the spill and the cleanup operation. For now, you can read about the spill, and see some video of it, by clicking the link below.